college football

Before they went on stage for the cameras, there wasn’t a word said between them Sunday morning. University of Alabama coach Nick Saban and his former assistant coach, Kirby Smart, would be very complimentary during their final news conference prior to the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, but when they posed with the trophy their body language said otherwise.

This after Saban said, “What you all don’t understand is this guy was on our staff for, I don’t know, 10 years. [My wife] Terry was there when his babies [were] born. I mean, you become a part of a family. That’s what you do when you’re together for a long time.”

This week has been anything but a vacation or a chance to catch up for the former colleagues turned foes. This is a business trip, through and through, with a lot more than a trophy on the line. Another suitor has arisen to challenge Saban’s status atop college football, and the outcome of the title game on Monday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) could have extensive repercussions — especially if the Bulldogs win.

This one has the most familiarity for Saban. Smart took Saban’s process to Georgia to not only build up the Bulldogs but also to try and take down his former boss and mentor. Being in the same conference is one thing, and recruiting many of the same players another, although that has led to some friction.

However, the Bulldogs are so much like Crimson Tide that Athens could be called Alabama East.

“I don’t think there’s a whole lot (of differences),” said outgoing defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt, who might soon have Alabama North at Tennessee. “I think both teams are very similar. They’re both committed to running the football, playing good on special teams and playing good defense.”

Same system. Same style. Similar schemes. Plus, a lot of familiar faces on both sides.

“The foundations are the same,” said Georgia outside linebackers coach Kevin Sherrer, who also used to work for Saban.

When asked for a difference, Sherrer stated: “Kirby is probably a little more personable, approachable.”

The coaches have been the focal point leading up to this showdown, and with good reason because of their history. Saban used to say that Smart and he had worked so long and well together that all he had to do was think something and his defense coordinator was already doing it.

Yet now he’s on the other side, trying to become the first former assistant to beat the master. Saban is 11-0 when facing his first assistant coaches, having defeated them by a combined score of 427-111 (average of 39-10).

“Yeah, the 11-0 he’s won, I would venture to say he’s been favored in all 11,” Smart said. “He’s got really good players.”

That’s true, but one has to go back 38 games to find the last time Alabama didn’t open in Las Vegas as a clear favorite. Ironically, it was at Georgia in 2015, when the Crimson Tide was initially considered a slight underdog by most oddsmaking services, but by game time that had changed. Regardless, Alabama crushed Georgia, 38-10, and went on to win the national championship.

It snapped a 72-game streak in which Alabama was considered a clear favorite, dating back to the 2009 SEC Championship Game against Florida. The Crimson Tide won 32-13, and the changing of the guard was complete.

As of Sunday night, oddsshark.com had the Tide at -3.5 against the Bulldogs, so it’s 111 out of 112 games — just shy of the sun rising in terms of consistency.

But the overlapping relationships in this game go way beyond Saban and Smart, and how they might influence the outcome is the giant question mark looming over Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

“Two staffs with some great coaches,” Alabama co-defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi said. “I don’t know what to make of it.”

Football fraternity is small one

When Smart returned to his alma mater in 2015, he hired Crimson Tide defensive backs coach Mel Tucker to be his defensive coordinator and Alabama staffer Glenn Schumann as inside linebackers coach. Among his in-house moves was to retain Sherrer, Alabama’s former director of player development (2010-12).

“It’s interesting for sure, especially when you throw in the fact that Kevin Sherrer is on that staff,” Pruitt said on Saturday. “We talked last night for a little bit. I gave him a hard time. We were working a little bit late. I told him I was going to call Kirby and tell him we were out-working you all tonight.”

The two have known each other for 20-odd years, going back to when they played together at Alabama. Sherrer was a tight end from 1993 to 1995; Pruitt was a defensive back who transferred from Middle Tennessee State for his final two years (1995-96), then began coaching as a student assistant with the 1997 Crimson Tide.

Smart also tried to hire away high-profile strength and conditioning coach Scott Cochran. Not only did he get a significant raise of $105,000 to stay (his salary is now up to $535,000), but in Alabama state employees are vested after 10 years on the payroll. He reached that in 2016.

“I still have a great relationship with the Cochran family because my kids are best friends with theirs,” Smart said.

Yet that only begins to describe all the staff ties.

For example, Tucker began his coaching career in 1997 as a graduate assistant for Saban at Michigan State. He’s since worked at Miami (Ohio), with Saban again at LSU, Ohio State and three NFL teams before landing at Alabama in 2015.

“I was a graduate assistant with Mel,” Alabama offensive coordinator Brian Daboll said. “We’ve played each other for years when he’s been at Chicago, Jacksonville and Cleveland.”

When Alabama won at Georgia in 2015, Pruitt was the Bulldogs’ defensive coordinator. The score could have been a lot worse, but the damage was done. Georgia lost the next week at Tennessee and then at Florida. Even though it bounced back to win four straight games, Mark Richt was let go after 15 years and a 145-51 record.

When Smart was hired, Saban brought back Pruitt, who had worked for him from 2007 to 2012 and rose from director of player development to defensive backs coach. When he was initially added to the coaching staff in 2010, Smart switched from handling the defensive backs as a position group to linebackers.

Consequently, Smart helped recruit a number of key players on the Crimson Tide, as Pruitt did for Georgia, and the others. A lot of them have stayed in touch over the years such as junior defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick and Tucker, who was his position coach as a freshman.

“I could talk to you about him all day,” Tucker said. “He’s a great player. He’s an even better person.”

“It’s really cool just seeing the success that they’ve had. I’m kind of not surprised by it.”

Does familiarity favor one team?

Although the teams have only had a week since playing their bowl semifinals, the staffs started eyeing each other a month ago after both made the College Football Playoff as the third and fourth seeds. They knew this showdown was a possibility, so contingency plans were made.

Since Alabama has always run Saban’s defense, Smart might be able to snuff out some plays beforehand. But, with his experience, he could do that with just about anyone.

What about play calls and signals? Would they need to be changed?

“You do think about those things,” Lupoi said.

Yet, none of that benefited Jim McElwain the three times he faced his former boss, twice with Florida in the SEC Championship Game. Nor did it help Mark Dantonio in two meetings, including the 2015 playoff (Cotton Bowl semifinal); or Will Muschamp or Jimbo Fisher earlier this season.

Alabama was also paying attention to Georgia long before the playoff announcement, in part, because of the schedule. The Bulldogs played some of the same teams, so the Crimson Tide were able to get a head start on how opponents might play them, and their adjustments.

“We actually followed the defense,” Pruitt said. “And we all still talk now. We talk during the … Heck, I talk to Auburn, talk to Kevin Steele. Talked to Kirby a few times. We still share ideas.”

As for the film study, it removes a lot of the personal aspect just because of the sheer volume. While going over everything from formations to trends, the coaches don’t have time to think, “Hey, I know that guy, I recruited him,” on each of the hundreds of plays they’re examining. Plus, they’re not the only ones going over everything.

While searching for tells, weaknesses and things such as the adjustments Georgia made at halftime against Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl (“We didn’t sprinkle any dust on anybody at halftime,” Tucker said), there just are no secrets.

Consequently, when weighing how much to stick to the team’s strengths and possibly being predictable versus trying to think outside of the box at the risk of making more mistakes, coaches on both sides are concerned about going around in circles mentally.

“It’s interesting, because sometimes you could overthink it because you say, ‘OK, if we do this, Kirby’s going to know we’re going to do this,’” Pruitt said. “’So, they’re going to try to do it this way.’

“And I’m sure he’s probably sitting there doing the same thing. So, it’s kind of, probably going to be hit and miss in the game.”

Smart agreed: “It’s not like we play Alabama does this or Alabama does that. Sometimes you can talk yourself out of things that you should do because you know what the other team does, and I think you’ve got to be careful of that.”

We used NCAAGameSim.com to pit the Crimson Tide and Bulldogs head-to-head 100 times. The engine featured up-to-date rosters — including current injuries — and individual box scores. It also had a clear preference between the teams that will play for the national championship on Monday night (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Georgia won 67 of the 100 matchups, boasting an average output of 24.5 points against Alabama’s 21.1.

Here are a few specific aspects we tracked:

(Number of times) Alabama won by 10-plus points: 22

Georgia won by 10-plus points: 37

Alabama won by 20-plus points: 10

Georgia won by 20-plus points: 12

Alabama won by 30-plus points: 1

Georgia won by 30-plus points: 2

Alabama won in overtime: 0

Georgia won in overtime: 1

Jalen Hurts topped 300 total yards: 17

Hurts topped 100 rushing yards: 7

Damien Harris topped 100 rushing yards: 16

Harris topped 200 rushing yards: 1

Bo Scarbrough topped 100 yards: 1

Calvin Ridley topped 100 receiving yards: 14

Alex Pappanastos missed at least one field goal: 42

Jake Fromm threw for at least 200 yards: 24

Fromm threw for at least 300 yards: 2

Fromm threw at least 2 touchdowns: 21

Fromm threw 3 touchdowns: 4

Fromm attempted at least 20 passes: 62

Fromm attempted at least 30 passes: 2

Nick Chubb topped 100 rushing yards: 46

Chubb topped 200 rushing yards: 2

Sony Michel topped 100 rushing yards: 23

Michel topped 200 rushing yards: 0

D’Andre Swift topped 100 rushing yards: 5

Two Georgia running backs topped 100 rushing yards each: 11

Rodrigo Blankenship missed at least one field goal: 37

Alabama-Georgia anomalies

There were bound to be some weird box scores over the course of 100 simulations. Here were the most notable moments:

In a 36-6 Georgia win, Nick Chubb (258 rushing yards) and Sony Michel (172) combined for 430 on the ground. Even if Georgia plays an outstanding game, those numbers seem more like one in a million than one in a hundred.

In a 35-24 Alabama win, backup quarterback Tua Tagovailoa rushed three times for 81 yards (on top of Hurts’ 348 total yards) and the top four Crimson Tide receivers were Hale Hentges (89 yards), Jerry Jeudy (86), Henry Ruggs (65) and Najee Harris (39).

In a 44-20 Alabama win, Hurts absolutely silenced his doubters with a monster performance. He completed 23 of 31 passes for 389 yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. His pair of first-quarter touchdown strikes to Ridley helped the Tide run away early.

National championship fireworks

NCAAGameSim.com generates play-by-play accounts of each game. The details aren’t perfect — especially in regard to situation-based strategy — but it does the trick. Here are a handful of interesting endings:

Alabama 19, UGA 16: Facing a 16-12 deficit and having not reached the end zone the entire game, Alabama took over at its 20-yard line with about 2 minutes remaining. On third-and-7, Damien Harris ripped off a 68-yard run — an odd call, certainly — and Hurts punched in the winning 4-yard touchdown two plays later.

UGA 34, Alabama 31: An MVP-type performance from Hurts (284 total yards and 2 passing scores) was cut short when he threw an interception on first-and-10 from the Georgia 14-yard line with seconds remaining.

UGA 34, Alabama 31: One Georgia drive after tying the score with a 33-yard field goal, the Bulldogs had the ball again on their 40-yard line and plenty of time to win. But seven plays yielded just 26 net yards. Forced to gamble, the Bulldogs sent out Blankenship for a 51-yarder, and he nailed it as time expired.

UGA 13, Alabama 10: A huge kick return got Alabama to the Georgia 35-yard line on the final drive, but the Crimson Tide stalled, and a 49-yard field-goal attempt by Pappanastos was no good at the final gun.

UGA 27, Alabama 23: A 42-yard field goal by Pappanastos put the Tide ahead 23-20, but the Bulldogs countered with a long kick return and Fromm found Terry Godwin for the winning 13-yard touchdown pass with no time remaining.

UGA 37, Alabama 34: Hurts tied the score with a 1-yard run on the final play of regulation, but — following a 41-yard overtime field goal by Blankenship — threw a first-down interception on Alabama’s first OT drive that ended the game.

UGA 21, Alabama 20: On the final Georgia drive, Fromm (only 38 passing yards entering the possession) led the Bulldogs on a 16-play, 86-yard excursion that culminated in 3-yard game-winning touchdown pass to Riley Ridley.

UGA 36, Alabama 30: Instead of attempting a Hail Mary from its 42, Georgia opted to play for overtime and handed the ball to Chubb. Fifty-eight yards later, the Dawgs had a stunning victory.

UGA 33, Alabama 31: Needing a touchdown to win, Georgia drove 80 yards on 11 plays to take the lead in the final minute. Chubb’s 2-yard scoring run was the clincher, and Alabama had only two plays from its 20 before the clock ran out.

Alabama 27, UGA 23: Georgia took a 23-20 lead on a 42-yard field goal by Blankenship, but Alabama stormed down the field and Hurts hit Scarbrough for the winning 6-yard touchdown with no time remaining.

On Monday, the former Bulldogs coach used Twitter to write that he’s “happy for the players, coaches and the Georgia people” before the Bulldogs play Alabama to decide the national title on Monday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. This is a nice move from Richt, who went 145-51 as Georgia’s coach from 2001 to 2015.

This is a classy gesture by the coach, who clearly still has feelings for his former program. He gave life to the University of Miami this season while leading the Hurricanes to a 10-3 record with an appearance in the ACC Championship Game and Orange Bowl.

It’s safe to say Richt will be watching closely Monday night with the Bulldogs on his mind.

Aaron and Helga Thompson, of Covington, are owners of A&H Cool Cooler Creation, a home-based business that makes University of Georgia-inspired coolers from styrofoam encased in plywood and upholstered in vinyl.

Helga Thompson sews on the decals and does the upholstering and her husband does the rest.

It helps that both are also big Georgia fans.

The business began as a hobby. Thompson was messing around in his garage making something to carry on his Kawasaki Vulcan 1600, and said “it just developed from there.”

“I figured it was something the fan could take home as useful memorabilia instead of something that just sits on a shelf,” said Thompson, a retired federal worker and veteran of Operation Desert Storm. His wife is a retired nurse.

The Alabama Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs will take the field Monday night to battle for the title of the best college football team in the nation.

The national championship is awarded each season to the top collegiate team in the country. Prior to the playoff era of college football, championship teams were selected by a number of organizations, people and publications.

The Associated Press is the longest-standing selector of the champion, having awarded the title annually since 1936, when Texas A&M took the title.

President Richard Nixon in 1969 made the unprecedented move of announcing that he would award the winner of the championship game the trophy after No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Arkansas duked it out on the field. Texas ultimately walked away with the trophy that year, according to NCAA records.

The Bowl Championship Series, or BCS, was established in 1998. The BCS combined the USA Today Coaches’ Poll, the Harris Interactive Poll and the average of six separate computer rankings to name the top two teams in the nation.

The BCS rankings proved controversial, particularly in 2003, when No. 3 Oklahoma was chosen over the top-ranked team, USC, to play in the title game, NCAA officials said. That season ended with split national champions: the LSU Tigers, who won the BCS title, and the USC Trojans, who were named the champions by the Associated Press.

The final BCS championship game was played in 2013, replaced the following year by the College Football Playoffs, in which a four-team tournament was established to determine the national champion.

The Bulldogs earned their spot in the title game by defeating the Oklahoma Sooners 54 to 48 in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day. Their win came after the game went into double overtime.

The Crimson Tide, who last won the title in 2015, earned their spot in the big game with a 24 to 6 win over the Clemson Tigers, who were the national champs in 2016.

1892: The University of Georgia played its first football game. A month later, the school became part of the South’s oldest college football rivalry when it played Auburn University for the first time.

10: The number of bulldogs who have served as Uga, the official mascot of the UGA football team. Each Uga has descended from Uga I, who sired a line of English bulldogs owned by Sonny Seiler, of Savannah, Georgia. The current mascot, Que, became Uga X in 2015.

1964: Vince Dooley, UGA’s most winningest coach, was hired as head coach. Dooley coached the team through its 1988 season.

201: The number of wins Dooley led the team to in his time as coach.

808: The total number of wins the Bulldogs have amassed in their history.

The University of Alabama Crimson Tide will take on the Georgia Bulldogs Monday night in a battle for the national championship.

The game will be played at 7 p.m. Central Standard Time, 8 p.m. Eastern, at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Ahead of the big game, here is a by-the-numbers look at some of the Crimson Tide’s unique history.

1948: After more than 40 years of a rivalry so heated that they refused to play one another, the University of Alabama and Auburn University once again took to the field. The annual Iron Bowl between the two teams is one of the highlights of the year for fans on both sides of the stadium.

1958: Legendary head coach Paul “Bear” Bryant took the helm of the Crimson Tide. Bryant ultimately coached the team through its 1982 season.

323: The number of wins Bryant racked up at Alabama. At the time of his retirement, he held the record for the most wins by a coach in college football.

878: The number of official wins the Tide has earned in its history.

14: The number of SEC titles the Tide achieved under Bryant’s leadership. Bryant, known for his trademark houndstooth hat, had a record of 323-85-17 over his 25-year coaching career at the university.

26: The Tide’s total number of SEC championships.

64: The number of bowl games the Tide has played.

16: The number of national championships the university claims, the most of any school in the SEC, the Bryant Museum said. The team’s most recent national title was in 2015 under current head coach Nick Saban.

101,821: The capacity of Bryant-Denny Stadium at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, where the Tide plays all its home games.

2007: The year Saban was hired to lead the Tide. Immediately prior to coaching at Alabama, Saban was head coach at Louisiana State University.

2: Bryant and Saban are the only two college football coaches to win SEC championships at two different schools.

3: The number of Alabama coaches in the College Football Hall of Fame. Besides Bryant, those coaches include Frank Thomas and Eugene Stallings.